Management

Alceda's Management Team

Management Team

Désirée Eklund
Managing Director

Désirée Eklund is a Board Member of Alceda Fund Management and responsible for the administration of funds, in particular regulatory matters and control functions. Désirée previously held positions in money market and foreign exchange processing and she also worked for the securities commission division and the investment fund division at DZ BANK International, Hauck & Aufhäuser and Structured Invest in Luxembourg. She has over 20 years' experience in the financial sector, including 13 years in the international fund sector. She holds a Degree as a Banking Specialist from the Banking Academy Trier and she completed an apprenticeship in banking at Bayerische Vereinsbank.

Katrin Husung
Managing Director

Katrin Husung is Group Head of Product Management for Real Assets and a member of the board of the Group’s AIFM licensed affiliate Alceda Fund Management in Luxembourg. Katrin is responsible for the conception, product taxes and fund management of all real asset investments. Prior to joining Aquila Group in 2017, she served as a Managing Director at Commerz Real, where she was responsible for the development and distribution capabilities of the firm’s institutional business. Katrin has also worked in the tax division of Ernst & Young in Germany and Luxembourg, where she provided advisory services for numerous global clients and real estate and private equity funds. Katrin has 17 years of industry experience. She studied law at the University of Freiburg i.Br. and in Lausanne. She is a banker, attorney and tax consultant.

Dr. Harald Schönebeck
Managing Director

Harald Schönebeck is spokesperson of Alceda Fund Management S.A. and responsible for the Portfolio Management, Finance, Human Resources, Organisation, IT and Corporate Communication. He previously worked as Managing Director Corporate Finance at Commerzbank’s investment banking department where he was in charge of complex capital market transactions for the departments M&A, ECM, DCM, Securitisation and Capital Structuring. Prior to that he headed the rating advisory and methodologies division at Deutsche Bank Global Banking. Before that he was Managing Director of BA Venture GmbH, a private equity vehicle of Deutsche Bank for dynamically growing technical start-up investments for wealth management and semi institutional clients.

Harald Schönebeck graduated in business administration from the TU-Berlin and studied IT. He holds a PhD in IT-based financial management.

Albert Sowa
Managing Director

Albert Sowa is responsible for the company's risk management. He previously headed up the department credit risk non-bank financial institutions at Commerzbank and was in charge of the global credit portfolio with teams in Frankfurt, London, New York and Singapore. He was Chief Credit Officer of BHF Bank and had risk responsibility for the international credit portfolio of different segments. Albert Sowa also had risk responsibility for corporate customers and the public sector at Deutsche Bank. He further held a number of senior positions in the areas commercial real estate and corporates international. Albert Sowa holds a degree as banking specialist from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

Board of Directors

Roman Rosslenbroich
Member of the Board of Directors

As Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Aquila Group, Roman Rosslenbroich is in charge of the group’s corporate development and strategy.

Before founding Aquila Group, Mr. Rosslenbroich was the head of the fixed income rates group at Salomon Brothers in Frankfurt. He graduated from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University with the German degree of "Diplom-Kaufmann”, which is equivalent to a Master’s degree in Business.

Michaela von Grafenstein
Member of the Board of Directors

She has more than 25 years of local and international experience in alternative assets, credit management, risk management, product development and corporate governance. Prior to joining Aquila Group in 2013, Michaela held numerous top management positions at Allianz, Dresdner Bank and the Deutsche Bank Group. She holds a degree in law from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich.

Dr. Harald Schönebeck
Member of the Board of Directors

Harald Schönebeck is spokesperson of Alceda Fund Management S.A. and member of the Board. He is responsible for the Portfolio Management, Finance, Human Resources, Organisation, IT and Corporate Communication. He previously worked as Managing Director Corporate Finance at Commerzbank’s investment banking department where he was in charge of complex capital market transactions for the departments M&A, ECM, DCM, Securitisation and Capital Structuring. Prior to that he headed the rating advisory and methodologies division at Deutsche Bank Global Banking. Before that he was Managing Director of BA Venture GmbH, a private equity vehicle of Deutsche Bank for dynamically growing technical start-up investments for wealth management and semi institutional clients.

Harald Schönebeck graduated in business administration from the TU-Berlin and studied IT. He holds a PhD in IT-based financial management.

Chris Hitchen
Member of the Advisory Board

Dr. Olaf Huth
Member of the Advisory Board

Olaf Huth has been a Member of Aquila Group’s Advisory Board since 2016. He has 30 years of investment management experience, primarily focused on developing investment solutions for institutional investors. Olaf began his professional career at HSBC Trinkaus, where he was the CEO of the firm’s former Swiss subsidiary. In Dusseldorf he assumed responsibility for the firm’s corporate banking operations. From 2002, Olaf was responsible for the Group’s wealth management and private banking division. In 2006, he became a member of their management board and since 2013 he has been a member of their advisory board. Olaf holds a Degree in Business Administration and a PhD.

Daniel Just
Member of the Advisory Board

Daniel Just has been a Member of Aquila Group’s Advisory Board since 2016. From 1985 to 1992, Daniel was employed by Dresdner Bank in their customer relations, risk management and credit divisions and most recently he served as assistant to the Board. From 1993 to 1998, Daniel was employed by Bayerische Vereinsbank in the capacities of banking support South East Asia and USA and project management institutional support. Subsequently, Daniel joined the Bayerische Versorgungskammer as Head of Financial Affairs. In 2000, he was appointed deputy member of the Executive Board. He became a member of the Board of Management in 2001 and he was also Head of Capital Investments. In 2006, Daniel was elected deputy chairman of the board. Since 2013, Daniel has served as Chairman of the Board of the Bayerische Versorgungskammer. Daniel holds a Degree in Business Administration from Ludwig Maximilians University Munich.

Martin Keller
Member of the Advisory Board

Martin Keller joined Aquila Group’s Advisory Board in 2017. He has 25 years of experience in capital markets, private wealth management and institutional asset management. From 2011 to 2016, he was CEO of Asset Management Middle East & Africa at Credit Suisse and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aventicum Capital (a joint venture of Credit Suisse and Qatar Holdings). Prior to that, Martin was Head of Institutional Clients Europe and North America at Man Group. Other roles he has assumed in his career have included Global Head of Hedge Fund Investments at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management and Head of Prime Brokerage at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London. Martin graduated from the Swiss Banking School.

Prof. Dr. Dennis Meadows
Member of the Advisory Board

Prof. Dennis Meadows, an Emeritus Professor of Systems Management, has been a Member of Aquila Group’s Advisory Board since 2010. The former director of the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research at the University of New Hampshire is regarded as the father of the sustainability movement. He is widely known as the co-author of “Limits of Growth”, a study commissioned by the Club of Rome that discusses the consequences of a rapidly growing world population and finite resource supplies. Prof. Meadows received a PhD in Management from MIT Sloan School of Management and he holds four honorary doctorates.

Dominik Schärer
Member of the Advisory Board

Dominik Schärer joined Aquila Group's Advisory Board in January 2017. He has over 30 years of experience in financial markets, particularly in the institutional sector. From 2007 to 2016, Dominik was Chairman of the Board of Directors at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in Zurich. Prior to that, he served as their Management Chairman for several years. Since 1992, Dominik held numerous management positions at Merrill Lynch. Since September 2007, Dominik Schärer has been a partner at JBV Vermögensverwaltung and he is also a founder of PK Advisory (an independent consultant for Swiss pension funds and foundations).

Cristóbal Thomas de Carranza
Member of the Advisory Board

Cristóbal Thomas de Carranza has been a member of Aquila Group’s advisory board since April 2018. He has over 25 years of investment management experience and was General Director of Fonditel Pension and Fonditel Management (Telefónica pension funds) one of the largest pension fund managers in Spain. Under his leadership, the company’s pension and mutual funds received numerous Spanish and international investment awards. Cristóbal Thomas de Carranza is also the founder of Bigblue Capital Holding, which focuses on real estate projects, both land purchases and development, located in prime coastal locations in Spain. He also founded Valorica Capital, an investment advisor specialising in absolute return strategies. He previously worked at Atmosferica Investments, a company focused on the development and sale of ready-to-build solar parks in Mexico.

Dr. Herbert Walter
Member of the Advisory Board

Herbert Walter has been Chairman of Aquila Group’s Advisory Board since 2010. From 1983 to 2003 Herbert was employed by Deutsche Bank where he served as member of the Group Executive Committee who were responsible for private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2003, Herbert became a member of the Board of Allianz (Munich) and Chairman of the Management Board of Dresdner Bank (Frankfurt). Since 2009, Herbert has operated his own business as an entrepreneur and consultant. Herbert holds further positions in supervisory boards for national and international companies. Amongst others, he is a member of the Advisory Board of ERGO Group and he was speaker of the executive committee of the financial market stabilisation fund SoFFin. Herbert received his doctorate at the Institute of Banking and Finance, University of Munich.